EDITORIAL: Mayors need to work for the region

The region can work on its problems better if it works together

The real power to fix problems lies with local governments, in the council members, school board officials and mayors voters elected earlier this month. They are the ones whose decisions affect us most directly, by attracting jobs or discouraging growth, by resolving budget shortfalls or neglecting infrastructure.

If those local governments work together, residents of the entire region benefit. And right now, we need them to work together. As a region - not just as a city - we're struggling with a slowly recovering economy and stagnant population growth. Our schools don't prepare enough people to succeed at work, our poverty rate is unacceptably high and our public transportation doesn't move people around as well as it should.

In the face of these and other problems, we're getting little help from the federal and state governments. The federal government can't pay for the new Brent Spence Bridge and other infrastructure upgrades the region needs - no surprise to anyone who's watched the battles in Congress recently. Columbus has reduced or eliminated funding that Ohio cities and towns have long depended on: The state's local government fund has been cut in half, and the estate tax, 80 percent of which funded local governments, has been eliminated.

So today we're introducing the region's mayors who were elected Nov. 5. The race for Cincinnati mayor attracted a lot of attention, but six other mayors were elected or re-elected that day, and it's important for residents to know them and for them to know each other. We asked them each to tell us about their priorities for their upcoming terms. You'll find thoughts from six of them inside. (Unfortunately, Fairfield's new mayor, Steve Miller, declined to participate.)

Once they learn a bit about each other, here's what we'd like them to do:

Get to know each other. Go to a ribbon-cutting in a neighboring town or attend another city's council meeting. The sooner mayors and cities in the region stop seeing each other as competitors for jobs and residents, the faster a much-needed culture of collaboration will develop. When he was mayor of Denver, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper made it a point to attend corporate openings in neighboring suburbs. Rather than resent the loss of a headquarters to his city, Hickenlooper knew any new business was good for the region.

Create and maintain a consistent message. In the past eight years, more than 60 local leaders have traveled with the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber to see what the cities we compete with - places like Denver, Austin, Minneapolis and Charlotte - do well. "There's a consistency of message that cuts across all levels of leadership," says Mary Stagaman, executive director of Agenda 360, who's been on many of the trips. "The mayor of the biggest city in each region has a platform to set the message and tone and speak for the entire region. But that only works if there's also a prejudice toward collaboration. Regions that are winning don't respect jurisdictional boundaries. Erase the idea that your city, township or county is an island. The issues we face, like air quality and traffic congestion, don't respect jurisdictional boundaries."

Work together on job creation. That includes knowing what your neighbors' assets and needs are. Companies often choose a region before choosing a specific location based on attributes such as potential workforce qualities, educational level of the residents, proximity to customer base and similar factors. Cincinnati's competition is not Harrison, and West Chester's is not Lawrenceburg. The region's competition is Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Mumbai and Frankfurt. To succeed as a region, we must strategize and compete as a region.

There are coordinating agencies such as the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber and the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority to help with this, but building informal relationships matters, too. Longtime Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic, for example, recruits companies for all of Summit County when he's abroad, not just within the city limits.

Look for ways to work together. Sharing services presents a particular opportunity. The region is way behind other peer regions at working together, and it's holding us back. In his comments in this section, Silverton Mayor John Smith speaks about the success his city has had in sharing fire services with Deer Park, dispatch with Amberley Village and patrols with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office. Municipalities can start slowly and work toward bigger goals, but they need at least to consider ways they can work together.

Don't forget the entire region. There are no new mayors in Kentucky because it didn't hold elections this year, but it's essential for Southwest Ohio's cities to work with their Northern Kentucky counterparts. Regional cooperation extends across the Ohio River.

Petition together for support or policy changes. For instance, officials from Norwood and Wyoming recently spoke to The Enquirer's editorial board about what cuts to the local government fund have meant to their communities. Norwood lost $1.35 million a year when next year's budget is compared to five years ago, while Wyoming's loss of about $850,000 has meant a halt to nearly all capital projects. They are effective stories on their own, but the impact of dozens of communities united on these issues would be far greater.

The region's mayors and its city councils and school boards have plenty of work to do on their own, but they need to realize - and make time for - the priorities they share. Their constituents can help foster it by letting elected officials know of their support.

"There's an opportunity to create a culture of collaboration where one person doesn't need to be boss and each mayor can say, I think it's great that a company is opening up nearby because people who work there might want to live in my town, and they'll need a supply chain," says Jennifer Bradley, a fellow at the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program and author of "The Metropolitan Revolution: How Cities and Metros Are Fixing Our Broken Politics and Fragile Economy." "It's important to make it clear that we all rise or fall together."

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EDITORIAL: Mayors need to work for the region

Forget Washington and Columbus. The real power to fix problems lies with local governments, in the council members, school board officials and mayors voters elected earlier this month.